The present invention relates to an adornment for cranks and particularly an adornment adaptable flexibly to various shapes for creating versatile decorating effect.
In order to make the umbrellas more appealing and attractive, many umbrellas have an adornment or ornamental article for mounting a crank on the umbrella shaft to control the extension and folding of the umbrella. FIG. 1 shows a conventional adornment for such purpose. It includes a first shell mounted on one side of the umbrella shaft for supporting the crank and a second shell located at another side of the umbrella shaft to match the first shell. The crank has a crank shaft passing through the first shell and umbrella shaft, and fastened at another end by a screw nut. The second shell is coupled and fastened to the first shell by screws. The construction set forth above has disadvantages, notably:
1. The adornment is aimed to cover the unsightly crank mechanism. However, the adornment itself and screw fastening of the shells often become an eyesore and spoil the appearance of the whole umbrella setting.
2. Fastening the first and second shell by screws not only spoils the appearance of the umbrella set, it also requires tools and additional assembly time and efforts. Moreover, the screws are made of metal while the shells are generally made of plastics. To fasten these two types of elements of different rigidity tends to cause rupturing or fracturing of the shells, especially screw threads, and may result in loose coupling of the shells. On the other hand, fastening the shells with too strong of force could result in the shells stuck together and cannot be separated unless disassembled by a destructive way. It is not a cost effective design and structure.
The primary object of the present invention is to resolve the foregoing disadvantages. The present invention provides an adornment that may be assembled easily without using any tool and offer an attractive appearance to increase appealing of the whole product. The adornment includes a first shell located between the umbrella shaft and a crank arm of a crank, and a second shell mounted on another side of the umbrella shaft to match and engage with the first shell. The first and second shell have respectively a first and a second coupling section located at both ends and symmetrical to each other. On the umbrella shaft, there are a first and a second fastening cap movable thereon to fasten respectively to the first and second coupling section to form the completed adornment.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Further scope of the applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.